Tag: guitar backing tracks

When you’re first learning how to play guitar, you’re more than likely going to be spending much of your time alone. It can be very alienating! The more you hear yourself playing without any accompaniment, the easier it will become to feel discouraged. Every little mistake will be amplified, making you feel as if you’ll never sound good. Even worse, it just gets a bit dull only hearing yourself play over and over without accompaniment. That’s precisely where using guitar backing tracks comes into play!

Guitar backing tracks come in a wide variety of styles. Some give you an actual rhythm guitar track to play along to, whereas others may include drums and bass or even vocals. Of course, various different combinations of these are all readily available.

Regardless of which style you choose, the great thing about a backing track is that it will help you work on your timing while also giving you the advantage of hearing how you sound alongside other instruments. It isn’t quite as personable as playing with other people of course, but the opportunity for jamming with others isn’t always available.

Besides, becoming proficient at the guitar takes quite a lot of time and effort. Even players that have been at it for many years or even decades often have certain holes in their technical ability that could be improved upon. Learning to actually play alongside musical accompaniment from the start will give you a great advantage however. You’ll be able to understand what role the guitar plays in the type of music you’re interested in, and your ability to lock into a tempo or groove will be honed quite quickly.

Those elements are absolutely essential when it comes to being a legitimate musician. If you’re always somewhere outside of the beat or playing against the current dynamic of the song, you’re just not going to sound good. Having a sense for how you need to play at any given moment is just as important as knowing what to play. Practicing alongside guitar backing tracks is an invaluable means of developing that, even if you’re only just starting out.

Of course, backing tracks also make practice a lot more fun and productive. Practicing chord changes and scales by yourself feels more like unnecessary work than anything resembling fun. A lot of players give up on their practice entirely since they just aren’t able to enjoy it. Having music to connect to while you play will always make your exercises more enjoyable.

There’s also a lot of variety in what you can do as you practice with a backing track. For instance, you can break your exercises down into specific focuses. You can just focus on your timing and rhythm for a while, and then shift over to practice with improvising melodies and solos over certain chord changes or tempos. Due to this and everything else mentioned above, you should definitely consider using guitar backing tracks when you practice from now on!